1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a card edge connector, and in particular to a card edge connector comprising a daughter board retainer for securely retaining a daughter board therein.
2. The Related Arts
A card edge connector functions to connect a daughter board to a mother board. An example of the card edge connector is a connector for connecting an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) card to a computer mother board. A conventional card edge connector comprises an insulative housing defining an elongate central slot for receiving an edge of a daughter board. Two rows of holes are defined on opposite sides of the central slot for receiving and retaining conductive contacts which are allowed to engage conductive pads on the daughter board.
Such a structure, however, cannot securely retain a daughter board in position inside the card edge connector. Thus, an AGP connector is equipped with a retainer for securing the daughter board. FIG. 5 of the attached drawings shows a conventional AGP connector 10 mounted on a mother board 12. The connector 10 comprises an insulative housing 14 defining a central slot 16 for receiving a daughter board (not shown). Two rows of holes 18 are defined on opposite sides of the central slot 16 for receiving and retaining conductive contacts (not shown). A retainer 20 which is shown separate from the connector 10 in the drawing comprises a frame-like body 22 tightly fit over the housing 14. If desired, fastening means may be adapted to securely fix the retainer 20 to the housing 14 of the connector 10. A resilient, deflectable arm 24 extends from the body 22. A projection 26 is formed on the arm 24 for engaging with a notch defined in the daughter board thereby securing the daughter to the connector 10.
The resiliency of the arm 24 allows a user to selectively engage/disengage the projection 26 with/from the notch of the daughter board. To provide sufficient resiliency for easy deflection by the user, the arm 24 must have a substantial length. Both the separate retainer and the long arm occupy a great amount of space which is adverse to the trend of miniaturization of electronic industry.
Furthermore, the deflectable arm 24 is usually operated by the fingers of the user. The user applies a force to deflect the arm 24 by his or her fingers and the reaction induced by the deflection is taken by the body 22 that is fixed to the housing 14 of the connector 10. Such a reaction may cause undesired damage to the connector 10 and even the mother board to which the connector 10 is mounted.
It is thus desirable to provide a card edge connector for alleviating the above mentioned problems.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a card edge connector comprising a retention arm integrally extending from a housing of the connector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a card edge connector comprising a deflectable retention arm forming a projection for selectively engaging a notch of a daughter board by the deflection thereof and a relatively rigid stop arm for limiting the deflection of the retention arm thereby eliminating the risk of damage caused on the housing and the retention arm itself.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a card edge connector comprising a deflectable retention arm having a projection for selectively engaging a notch of a daughter board by being deflected by a user""s finger and a support member for supporting another finger of the user thereby eliminating reaction acting upon the connector.
To achieve the above objects, a card edge connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing mounted on a mother board and defining a central slot for receiving a daughter board. Conductive contacts are retained in the housing for electrically engaging the daughter board. The contacts are soldered to the mother board for establishing electrical connection between the mother board and the daughter board. A relatively resilient retention arm extends from the housing and is deflectable from an initial position to a final position. The retention arm has an inner surface facing the circuit board and a latch projection extends from the inner surface for engaging a notch defined in the daughter board when the retention arm is in the initial position. The latch projection is disengaged from the notch of the daughter board when the retention arm is manually deflected to the final position. A relatively rigid stop arm extends from the housing and substantially opposes the resilient arm with a gap formed therebetween. The retention arm and the stop arm diverge with respect to each other, whereby the gap gradually increases in a direction away from the housing for allowing the deflection of the retention arm with respect to the stop arm. The stop arm limits the deflection of the retention arm and serves as a support of a user""s finger in manually deflecting the retention arm.